Step-ladder



O. S. OOMINS.

STEP LADDER.

(No Model.)

No. 372,967.. Patented Nov. 8, 1887.

UN TED STATES PATENT FFICE.

CHARLES S. COMINS, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

STEP-LADDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 372,967, dated November 8, 1887.

Application filed March 17, 1887. Serial No. 231,325. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES S. GoMINs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massaohusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Step-Ladders, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a step-ladder adapted for household use which shall'be as light and ornamental as the required strength and durability will permit.

Theinvention consists, principally, in the pe culiar construction of the steps; in the combination, with the stay-rods, of a handle-bar, whereby the rear supports may be moved to or away from the step-supports with slight exertion; and, finally, in the formation of the metal connections by which the rear supports are so secured to the step-supports as to enable the ladder to be selfsupporting when closed.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the following specification, of which Figures 1 and 2 are respectively a side ele-v vation as when open and closed, Fig. 3 being an enlarged sectional plan view showing a portion of a step, one of the improved jointed stayrods, and a portion of the handle-bar. Fig. 4 is a detached enlarged View of one of the metal connections for the step-supports and rear supports. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detached view of one of the improved jointed stay-rods in elevation, and Fig. 6 is a cross'section of one of the improved steps.

Corresponding letters indicate like parts.

The improvedstep is composed of the front and rear bar or slat, A A, connected by a piece of veneer, A which may run their entire length, the said bars being rabbeted on their upper adjacent edges, so as to allow the said veneer to sink in flush with their tops.

Said veneer may be a single thickness or several thicknesses, it being probably preferable, however, to form it in three layers, the grain of the upper and under being permitted to run crosswise of the step, as the shade lines in Fig.

3 would indicate.

spond, as seen in Fig. 6, and thus be held to gether; or they may be glued or otherwise secured.

The ends of the bars A A may be mortised into the side step-supports, B, and additionally secured therein by aid of screws 0, which pass through the said supports into said mortise or groove and enter the ends of said bars A A.

The rear support, D, is composed of the uprights (2 (1, connected by suitable transverse pieces, d, and to the tops of these uprights are placed the iron or metal hinge-connections, formed in two parts, E E, which may each be made from the same pattern, placed together, as in Fig. 4, and secured by a screw, as in Figs. 1 and 2. The parts 6 6, when together, encircle turned portions a, formed on the part A of that step first below the top of the ladder, thus forming the hinge portion of said connections. By thus connecting the said step and rear supports at a point so far below the top of the ladder, less floor room is occupied by the same, as they do not require to be spread so far apart to gain steadiness, and by cutting the rear supports the proper length, as in Fig. 2, Said ladder is rendered self-supporting when closed.

Stay-bars F F and G G are provided and pivotally connected, respectively, to the bars A and d, their opposite or free ends being joined together by a screw, H, which passes through both and into a handle-bar, I, supported between either of the bars F F. By lifting or pressing down said handle-bar I said step ladder is respectively closed or opened. The said parts F may be cast sufficiently thick to allow of forming the recess f, into which the ends of the handlebar I may be fitted, as in Figs. 3 and 5, and that end which connects with the steps may be made in the form of a half-bearing, the other half, f, being formed separate and screwed on at At the free ends of the parts G G may be formed a whole bearing, fitting one of the transverse pieces of the rear support, D.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A ladder-step composed of .a front and IOO rear bar spanned by one or more thicknesses other to the rear support, and a handle-bar of veneer, attached substantially in the manconnecting those joints of the stay-rods which ncr and for the purpose set forth. are attached to the front supports, all con- 15 2. The combination, with the step'supports, structed and operating for the purpose set of a step composed of a front and rear bar morforth. tised therein and spanned by one or more In testimony whereof Iafiix my signature in thicknesses of veneer, attached substantially presence of two witnesses. as described and set forth. T

3. In a step-ladder, the combination of stay- GHARLES COMILS' rods consisting of two bars for each side pivotally connected, as shown, and having their free ends pivoted one to the front and the \Vitnesses:

Ones. HALL ADAMS, CARRIE W. TROWBRIDGE. 

